Doom with a View: Sam Witwer Previews Smallville's Return

What will be the fallout of the ultimate wedding-crashing? The CW's Smallville resumes its eighth season this Thursday at 8 pm/ET — free of any presidential interruption! — and Sam Witwer is here to share a look at what's ahead for mild-mannered Davis Bloome and his less-mannered alter ego.

TVGuide.com: When Smallville first approached you, how up front were they about who and what they wanted you to play?
Sam Witwer: Oh, they lied. They just lied left and right. No, they were very up front. I walked into a room full of producers, and they started telling me this story about a guy named Davis ... who winds up eventually being Doomsday. [Doomsday] was something that I had just become aware of, because two weeks before I had downloaded on Xbox Live the Superman: Doomsday [animated movie].

TVGuide.com: That was rather fortuitous.
Witwer: Yeah, it was kinda weird. I was like, "Oh, I know who that guy is — a big ugly dude," so of course one of my first questions was, "Um, are you going to have me wear some kind of suit, costume...?" Thankfully, they were like, "No..." 

TVGuide.com: That definitely was not you in that costume during "Bride."
Witwer: No. I wish I was 6-foot-8. That guy [playing Doomsday] is huge, and he's really cool. The costume they created is literally that character form the comic book. They did a great job.

TVGuide.com: They were very smart about how to approach the character. We all know how he looks in the comic books, but how do you bring that to the small screen on a Smallville budget? Between the "Cloverfield camera work" and the lights out and the quick cutting, they pulled it off.
Witwer: That was something that we talked about very early on. We brought up Jaws and how that was a better movie because you barely ever saw the shark. It's cooler if you don't see what you're afraid of very clearly. You'll get a few more looks at Doomsday later on, but the lighting is always a certain way, so....

TVGuide.com: We'll never see him walking down the street in broad daylight.
Witwer: Right, he's not going to be out buying a hot dog, or playing Xbox with Clark.

TVGuide.com: That euphoric look on Chloe's face at the end of "Bride" - was she happy to see Davis, or are we looking at a giddy Brainiac?
Witwer: [Laughs] Do you really expect a spoiler on that one?! Either one of those could be true. We know she's being influenced by the whole Brainiac thing, but my feeling on that is that these people are, aside from that, very compatible as friends - and as more than friends.

TVGuide.com: How in the world is Chloe going to move on from this run-in with Davis' nasty alter ego?
Witwer: That's a good question, isn't it? Chloe has her alter ego as well, so that plays into how she is going to progress as a character. 

TVGuide.com: Is it safe to say that things are kaput between her and Jimmy?
Witwer: Jimmy.... [Sighs] I'm hoping the guy pulls through. I didn't mean to hurt him. Maybe I'll go offer some moral support at the hospital.

TVGuide.com: What's that part of the Hippocratic oath - "First do no harm, unless you're a giant monster with bony protrusions"?
Witwer: "And at that point, rip their chest out." That's the unspoken part. 

TVGuide.com: Do you think Davis' feelings for Chloe are genuine?
Witwer: Absolutely. There are other takes to be had on that, and you'll see those in upcoming episodes. But that's certainly the way I play it.

TVGuide.com: In the Jan. 15 episode, some members of the Legion of Super-Heroes show up. Are they there to help give Doomsday a beat-down, or are they a FEMA-like clean-up crew?
Witwer: [Laughs] It's sort of in between. You'll have to wait and see.

TVGuide.com: Would you like to see the season end with a big cage match between Doomy and not Clark but Superman?
Witwer: That's the thing, man - how are you going to do that? If you follow the mythology, he's got to be Superman first. But it's Doomsday, and his whole purpose is to wipe this guy out. So my take is yeah, they've got to throw down in some way, shape or form. I'm not talking about a chess match, but a real fight. If they don't, why is Doomsday on the show?

TVGuide.com: Is Allison Mack going to be directing you soon?
Witwer: I'm not sure if I'm in the episode that's she's directing; I think I'm not, which is too bad, because I really enjoy working with Allison.

TVGuide.com: You did a few episodes of Dexter during its first season. Did you have a sense that the show would have some legs?
Witwer: Oh yeah. That was a huge deal for me because until then I kept getting cast in the same types of roles, and Dexter wanted me to play this very eccentric computer nerd. I was thankful they believed I could do that! I went in originally for the character of Tony Tucci, who gets sort of disassembled by the Ice Truck Killer but survives. Then I read later for this guy who gives Doakes some trouble — and in the second script he turns into Kevin Spacey from Seven. That was an incredible experience.

TVGuide.com: I'm sure your female fans would say you're not the computer nerd type.
Witwer: Perhaps not! [Laughs] In any case, actors are in theory supposed to be able to inhabit different types of roles, and that's what I enjoy doing. I get to be the villain on Smallville, the space hero in [the videogame] Star Wars[: The Force Unleashed], the strange deviant on Dexter.... Weird, strange roles! The most normal guy I've gotten to play was in [the 2007 movie] The Mist, and look how that turned out for me. Not so good. Killed horribly.

Watch clips from this week's "Legion" episode here, here and here.

P.S. Keep checking Tom Welling's page for his brand-new promo shot.